Today I was interviewed by Polish Radio about my impressions of Warsaw and the Competition so far. One question concerned my recent blog post – why did I liken the Competition platform to a “gladiatorial arena”? Well, because in many ways, it is: every competition, by definition, has to have a knock-out,  survival-of-the-fittest aspect to it. But some are more gladiatorial than others. The Chopin Competition isn’t a blood sport like those where a bell rings and the poor musician is stopped in their tracks when the jury has heard enough. Here, each pianist is given their uninterrupted half hour to perform, albeit under the glare of lights and the scrutiny of TV cameras, an informed and critical audience and of course the eyes and ears of the Jury: Martha, Nelson, Ts’ong, et al.

But, according to Piotr Paleczny, the Jury’s vice- chairman, who himself won third prize at the Competition in 1970, their intention isn’t to give the competitors a hard time. “I would like the participants to feel the kindness that surrounds them and the care and desire to minimise attendant stress,” he says. But, on the other hand, surely we shouldn’t be too kind to these young musicians? Aren’t nerves of steel in the face of a brutally critical profession one of the prerequisites for being a successful performer?

Paleczny was making his comments to the Chopin Express, the official gazette for the Competition. As well as blogging, I’m also here as the English editor of the paper (thanks to co-publishers Gramophone and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute). It’s distributed daily, free all around Warsaw for the duration of the competition. You can read it online and if you’re lucky enough to be in Warsaw you can also pick up a free CD each day consisting of the most noteworthy performances at the Competition so far.